Despite this downward trend across some nations, emissions growth in transitioning economies dominates the global trend—as such, global annual emissions have continued to increase over this period.

The key drawback of measuring the total national emissions is that it takes no account of the nation's population size.

This contrasts with the global north where emissions are typically above five tonnes per person (with North America above 15 tonnes).

The monthly emissions per capita in rich countries are mostly higher than the yearly emissions per capita in poorer countries.

It has been estimated that without these gases, the average surface temperature of the Earth would be about -18 degrees celsius.

emissions, disrupting the global carbon cycle and leading to a planetary warming impact.

Global warming and a changing climate have a range of potential ecological, physical and health impacts, including extreme weather events (such as floods, droughts, storms, and heatwaves); sea-level rise; altered crop growth; and disrupted water systems.

The most extensive source of analysis on the potential impacts of climatic change can be found in the 5th Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report; this presents full coverage of all impacts in its chapter on Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability.

On the y-axis, we see the global average temperature rise above or below the 1961-1990 baseline temperature.